


Sins I Can’t Break, Bonds I Can’t Shake

by TheAngelofFate



Series: stories of what I would want to happen in upcoming episodes compared to what will actually happen in them [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce is a good dad, Comfort, DaddyBats, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hugging, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, i can’t stress this enough that this relationship is platonic, s02ep09 Atonement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 18:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21286061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAngelofFate/pseuds/TheAngelofFate
Summary: In the wake of Dick’s arrest to protect his family. He had planned to go away, to be put away for good. Alone he would bare the pains of his mistakes in the comforts of his jail cell.What he hadn’t planned on, was Bruce showing up.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: stories of what I would want to happen in upcoming episodes compared to what will actually happen in them [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1529330
Comments: 9
Kudos: 279





	Sins I Can’t Break, Bonds I Can’t Shake

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am, at it again with another Titans story because ohhhh boy, that was an episodes. I have a few thoughts and opinions. But right now my main thought process is Dick. Because oh, Dickie. This story is about him because this boi is being put through the wringer and I just really need him to be okay.

When he punched that guard, he knew exactly what he was doing. In throwing that first punch, he knew what would happen. He could have taken down every guard that was sent his way, he could have run away and disappeared even in brood daylight but that's not what he had planned. No, he planned to get caught, it's why he surrendered so easily, his natural instincts kicked in when that first guard went down, the instincts and reflexes Bruce taught him over the years turned on within a second, but he stilled himself and when the guards ordered him not to move, to freeze.

He did.

_I sentence you to live alone, Dick Grayson. To know that your Titans family lives out there in the world and that you can never be with them_

As he placed his hands on his head, as he felt a guard knock him to the ground. He thought, that this was for the best. He fucked up and this is what he deserved. This was the best possible punishment he could think of. To get as far away from people as possible. Because he meant what he said to Jason back on that rooftop, he was the poison. He brought pain, trauma and death to those around him, no matter how hard he tried to make things better, it always just blew up in his face.

_If you ever put the Titans back together, even for a **weekend**. I will killed every last one of you._

The only way to protect them all was for him to go away, and what better way then to get arrested?

As the cops put him in the back of a police cruiser, Dick leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes as his thoughts drifted back to just a couple hours ago, where he his fears had finally com true, where he lost his team, his _family _a fourth time.

When Hank had punched him, he knew it was gonna happen, he could see it in his posture. But that didn't mean it hurt any less. He almost wished Dawn hadn't stopped him, because he wanted someone to give him what he deserved. An ass whooping for all the mistakes he's made. Rachel leaving with Donna, that one had hurt more then he could describe. They had been through so much together, saw her as family. Saw them _both _as family. That the look of anger and distrust in their eyes was hard for Dick to bare.

Rose walked out and Jason went with her. And Dick didn't need to be a detective to know that Bruce wasn't gonna be happy about that. Seeing as he sent Jason to live at the Tower to train him, to look after him to train him in ways that Batman couldn't, because they both knew Jason wasn't ready, far from ready. But in the short span of a couple weeks he manages to get Jason kidnapped, dropped off a building and almost commits suicide because Dick hadn't been there more. Bruce had trusted him to look after Jason, his son, Dick's little brother and he fucked it all up and _god _if that didn't kill him even more then when Rachel left. Now Jason was off who knows where with Rose who had a target on her back from her own father.

The only thing that filled his heart with some type of hope back then had been Kori and Gar, who miraculously had not abandoned him. Kori who said she needed to tie up a loose end but that it wasn't an out like the others had chosen. And Gar who had defended him and said that because Dick had admitted he fucked up and apologized for it, that there wasn't much more he could do about it, and he didn't have to leave. Who stood beside Dick even as he left, who hugged him, even when they both knew he wasn't coming back.

His throat tightened painfully, his eyes stung as the police car drove down the road. He always feared that telling the truth would ruin everything, but he thought that maybe, just _maybe _it would be different, that things could be better. That maybe his fears were just paranoia and delusions. But of course, nothing was ever that simple or kind, not to Dick anyway.

He failed.

He failed them and he failed _Bruce_. Had sworn to him that things would be different, be better this time around and broken that—_destroyed_ that promised. There was no where left for him to go, no where but a continuous spiral downward.

They booked him, put him thought the whole procedure, confiscating his possessions, finger prints, the whole shebang for not only disturbing the peace but assaulting an officer. And as he watched them close the cell door in front of him, he felt nothing but _numbness_. For this may have been what was best, what he deserved, but this was by far what he wanted.But for everyone else's sake, for their survival. To atone for his sins, Dick would let this happen, he would take all of the pain and psychological trauma Slade had to offer and hold it close to him, because again, it's nothing that he didn't deserve.

He would take every drop; all the tears and guilt, all the agony and anguish. He would bare it all, all on his own. Alone, just like Slade wanted him to be. Just like he always was suppose to be before Bruce took him in and long after he left the Manor.

Sitting down on the steel bed, he dropped his head into his hands and willed himself not to break down. Stilled himself to stay strong and remain in tact. But that was easier said then done, for his heart felt like it was physically about to explode from the overstimulation of his emotions. His body trembled, and his hands carded through his hair and tugged hard, his nails digging into his scalp.

_I'm sorry._ He thought, and god even the voice in his head sounded broken. _I'm so fucking sorry._

And he was, but a lot of good that did him. Being sorry didn't stop Hank from punching him, being sorry didn't stop everyone from leaving. Being sorry didn't make anything he did, all the fuck ups he made any better. All it did was make it worse, because he was sorry.

But no one bothered to care.

So here, he would stay. Because there was no where else he could go where he wouldn't be tempted to reform the Titans. Because as much as he denied he was anything like Bruce, one of the things they had in common was helping people, they couldn't resist it no matter how hard they tried too. And the one thing Dick had within himself that he's had since birth, the one thing his parents instilled in him was forming connections, forming familial ties between people, it was his superpower if anything.

The drive, the need to form bonds others.

So being in a place like this was good because then he wouldn't have the urge to go out and "_play the hero_", so this way everyone would be safe.

As he let out a shuddered breathe, Dick heard the cell door open back up, lifting his head he saw a guard there. "Got lucky, Grayson." He said stoically, his expression remaining neutral as it often did with people behind bars. "You're assault at the airport made local news. Someone must care enough about you to let you out."

The news of his bail left Dick feeling like a fish out of water, he sat there gaping at the guard, his mouth physically dry.

The officer gestured him out, "C'mon, don't just stand there."

Dick, frantically shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed as anger took over. "Not a chance, I'm staying right here."

The guard looked momentarily shock by Dick's words but then his eyes narrowed. "Wasn't a request, kid." The man stepped forward once and then again.

Dick shoot up like a top, his eyes blazing. "Come any closer to me and I'll drop you so fast you'll be out before you hit the ground."

Now the cop looked pissed off, "Wanna repeat that?"

Dick opened his mouth, a nasty comment on the tip of his lips, but then Bruce walked in front of the cell doors, it happened so fast and so abrupt that Dick almost swallowed his own tongue.

"Dick." Bruce said, walking in front of the guard "That's enough."

For a moment, Dick thought it was another hallucination, because how could Bruce be _here_? How after everything could he be standing right before him?

He had to be another illusion, just another mental break in Dick's already damaged psyche. But then Bruce's face changes, as though realizing something important and places his hand on the guards shoulder, "Please, give us a minute." The officer looked from Bruce to Dick for several moment, then walked away, grumbling softly.

Dick watched as Bruce took a minute, inhaling shortly before letting it out, then he turned and face him. "Of all the things I was expecting to see on the news. Clark saving a bus load of kids from Toyman. Oliver and Dinah announcing their engagement; hearing that my son had been _arrested_ by assaulting a police officer at an airport was **not** one of them." Bruce's eyes narrowed giving off the impression that he was angry, but Dick knew that look too well, that wasn't anger, it was disappointment. The older man crossed his arms and let out a long sigh, "You wanna explain yourself?"

Dick was still trying to wrap his head around the fact if this was even real or not, to even answer Bruce's question. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Bruce must had noticed Dick's dilemma for his expression softened and he stepped forward. "Dick?"

And that was all it took, his name in that gentle tone of Bruce, the tone that Bruce only ever used towards the people he cared most about, the time that Dick hasn't heard in years.

Whether it was the real Bruce or not, that tone was all it took before Dick was breaking, shattering into pieces, his voice a hysterical mess of hitched breathes and incoherent mumbling. He hadn't realized tears were rolling down his cheeks until his vision blurred and all he saw was mesh of colors and shapes.

He felt someone cup his cheeks and then the tears were being wiped away and he could see Bruce again, whom was standing right in front of him, looking concerned. And Dick was immediately brought back to the church where the Bruce he imagined did a similar motion but this was different than then. This time Dick _felt_ it, felt the solidarity, the _weight_ against those fingertips as they gentle swiped at his cheeks. And that's when he knew this was _real_, that Bruce was actually **here** standing right before him. And the notion broke him all over again, because he wasn't alone anymore, like he always feared he would be, because no matter how much he fucked up Bruce would never abandon him.

He tried once more to voice a coherent sentence, to try and explain remotely something that had happened in the events recently, but all that escape his mouth was a broke cry.

Then he felt something being wrapped his body, blinking he realized that Bruce had put his black coat around his back and pulling the coat up over his face, then in Dick's confusion, he felt Bruce wrap his arm around his shoulders and tucked his against his chest. Something he hasn't done since Dick was a child whenever Bruce had one of those charity events at the Manor and the paparazzi became too much.

Then Bruce guided him out of his cell and into the police department. Even under the cover of Bruce's coat, Dick could still feel eyes on him, judging him and for the first time he trembled under their gaze. But just like back then, Bruce simply hushed him gently and continued walking until they were safely in the back of Bruce's car, Alfred at the wheel. "Breathe Dick." Bruce's voice was as gentle as ever, as he fully embraced him, placing his chin on top Dick's head. "I got you." He tried, tried so very hard to breathe as Bruce ordered, but it came out stifled and painful.

But Bruce was patient, simply sitting there, holding Dick was though he were 8 years old again, until the former Boy Wonder could compose himself. Then after what felt like an eternity, Dick managed a weak but desperate sounding, "_Bruce_..." And it earned him a hand carding through his hair, softly.

"I know, I got you chum." Bruce whispered into his hair, "I want to help you, son. But I can't until you tell me what happened."

Dick swallowed the thick lump that was lodged in his throat. "I fucked up, Bruce," God saying it out loud to Bruce of all people only made him feel worse. "Slade's back, and started going after my team again, Hank, Dawn and Donna. He kidnapped Jason and threw him off a _building_ and was saved by a kid that looks a lot like Uncle Clark and I had to tell them what happened. I _had_ to tell them because I told Jason because he was ready to jump off a fucking roof and I had to fucking come clean." Dick paused letting out a gasp, as he said all of that in one puff of air, before starting back up again. "And then they left. Rachel went with Donna. And Jason took off with Rose, who's Deathstroke's _daughter_ and I have no idea where he is now." Dick dug his fingers into Bruce's shirt, his heart felt like it was bleeding. "I always feared telling the truth would cause them to leave, and that's exactly what happened."

"Dick..."

But now that Dick had started, he couldn't stop.

"I _tried_ to atone, Bruce. For everything, I tried to let it all go. I went to see Adeline, to ask for forgiveness. It was stupid of me to think she ever would but I wanted to just try. And then fucking Slade was there in the other room and told that I hadn't owned up to what I'd done and that if I ever brought back the Titans he would kill them, Bruce. My friends, he said that he would kill them, no hesitation." And without wanting to, he tore himself away from Bruce's comforting embrace, tears still cascading down his cheeks. "So I had to get arrested, Bruce. I had to do _something_ to cut myself off from people, otherwise I'd be too tempted, and they'd be _safer_, their all so much better off without me anyway." It was why he had to go back, no one was safe while he was out. He searched his father's eyes, trying desperately to get through to him, that him being locked up was the best option. "You have to lock me up, give me back to the guards, _something_. Please, I can't— I can't be around people, **innocents**, they always get hurt. Because I'm a fucking awful person, I _deserve_ this."

Bruce's expression changed from confusion to absolute devastation at Dick's words. Without uttering a word, He tugged Dick back against his chest and held on for dear life. His arms tightly encasing Dick in a protective warmth he hasn't felt in years. "I'm _not_ locking you up, chum. You don't deserve that." Bruce whispered softly, pressing a soft chaste kiss to the younger man's temple, when Dick let out a broken protested whine. 

"Listen to me, Dickie." His father's tone was gentle and full of fondness, "You're _not_ an awful person. You're an great man, who's made some questionable decisions and mistakes over the years sure, but you are still a good person who's unfortunately had bad things happen to him. _But_ we're gonna fix this, okay? We're gonna get you home and then we're gonna find Jason and get _him_ home, then find your friends, and I'll explain things to them _myself_ and then we're gonna take care of Deathstroke."

Dick hadn't missed the emphasis on the word _"we're", _how could he?

_They_ were gonna find Jason, and _they_ were gonna stop Slade. They were gonna fix everything, just like old times, the original Dynamic Duo back at it again. It was like nothing had changed, just him and Bruce, fighting along side the other.

No bitterness or anger.

Just them, like all those years ago.

Dick's heart ached, finally having it dawn on him that he wasn't in this alone anymore. That he didn't have to do what Deathstroke said, that he had nothing to fear because Bruce was here, because Bruce would find a way to win, like he always did against all odds. Because Bruce, regardless of the fuck ups, regardless that Dick just admitted losing Jason and letting Slade win, Bruce was _still_ here, still ready and willing to help him without hesitation, who wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm sorry!" He found himself sobbing out, clinging to His father desperately, "I should have told you sooner, but I thought I could... that we could— I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, Dick."

Dick shook his head, frantically, biting his face further into Bruce's chest. Because this whole situation he got himself and his teammates in was anything but okay. He tried to voice this, but all that came out was another inhuman wail, that was muffled by his father's shirt. Bruce shushed him, stroking the nap of his neck, something again he hadn't done since Dick was a child. "We'll fix it, son. I promise, everything is gonna be okay."

And for the first time in what felt like decades, as they sat in the back of Bruce's car, in the arms of the very man who raised him as his son, who took him in and gave him a purpose after his world fell apart when his parents were taken from him, Dick _finally_ felt like he could believe those words. Finally, he felt some genuine hope warm his heart, after all this time.

With Bruce by his side, Slade didn't stand a chance.

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhhh boy was that episode intense, I’m so sad that everyone left Dick behind. I saw Hank punching him a mile away just by the subtle way he was walking towards Dick. And then Jason going with Rose is random, like I think their adorable together but seeing as she kinda has a target on her back I don’t see that going well for Jason.
> 
> Plus Dick letting himself get arrested?? My poor boy is so broken and guilt ridden. The fact that he genuinely believes this is the better option to protect his friends is heartbreaking.
> 
> So much so that I had to write about it. And honestly, writing this was simply a way for me to add more DaddyBats into Titans, because you can’t tell me that Bruce, among hearing on the news that his eldest son has been arrested, wouldn’t immediately drive to the station and bail his boy out. 
> 
> And then hug him afterwards when Dick has a mental break down because we all know that has to be coming sooner or later. Well I mean, you could. But I wouldn’t believe you. Because DaddyBats is too strong for me to ignore, even if this isn’t what’s gonna happen in the next episode 
> 
> But hey that’s what this series is all about, right?
> 
> Anywoo, thoughts? Feedback is always welcome and appreciated in comments down below, if anyone has the time, and I'll see you all laters.


End file.
